Ace Combat Assault Horizon takes off for 360, PS3

Namco Bandai’s long-running combat flight sim series returns today with Ace Combat Assault Horizon for the 360 and PS3. The Project Aces-developed entry adds a new damage model, for better debris and particle detail, attack helicopters, urban battlegrounds, a close-range assault system, super-sonic jets, door gunners, and a new online multiplayer mode, Capital Conquest. The story, penned by Threat Level Black author Jim DeFelice, puts players in the role of a pilot assigned to an international task force that will find itself taking on missions across the globe. Launch copies will allow access to three free multiplayer skills, and all copies will allow access to the Facebook Skin Design Contest winning entry, Death Rider by Chi-Chun Liu, as a playable skin for the F15-C fighter.

Project Aces is already working on DLC, with packs set to add new skins, maps, featuring such locales as Tokyo and Hawaii, and planes. A plane pack, which will include new fictional aircraft, was also detailed: ASF-X Shinden II, CFA-44 Nosferatu, as well as Su-37 Terminator, Tornado GR.4, AV-8B Harrier II Plus, YF-23 Black Widow II, F-15S/MTD and KA-50 Hokum.